News review – Monday 27 August 2018

Project Fear

Sun
SMUG Eurocrats believe Britain would face such a chaotic meltdown within the first week of a no deal Brexit that it would have little choice but to return to the negotiating table. Senior diplomats told The Sun that Brits would face “no flights to and from the UK, no ships, no economic activity and no financial transactions” if we failed to agree a deal before we leave the bloc next March. One ambassador predicted the chaos for businesses and ordinary people in the UK would get so bad the situation would quickly become untenable for the Government. And a senior EU official said Brussels negotiators were banking on it being such a disaster that the “cycle of negotiations and the political dynamics will be taken over by the real world”. But leading Brexiteer Jacob Rees-Mogg dismissed the “delusional”.

Express
THE UK has entered phase two of Project Fear and “Brexit scaremongering” in the wake of growing concerns surrounding the possibility of a ‘no deal’ departure from the EU, an MEP has blasted. A poll of over 3,000 people conducted by KPMG found that 70 percent of interviewees believe prices will rise in the event of ‘no deal’ outcome. The research also revealed that 45 percent of responders think ‘no deal’ is bad for the country, in comparison to only 25 percent who consider it to be beneficial. Speaking exclusively to Express.co.uk, Brexiteer MEP Margot Parker responded sharply to the findings and warned “Project Fear part two” was taking place. She said: “This is all part of Project Fear part two, which I have been repeatedly warning about for the past few weeks.

Independent
Planes will be grounded if Britain crashes out of the EU unless a specific aviation deal can be struck with Brussels, Theresa May is warned today. Falling back on World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules would not grant the UK air traffic control rights if it leaves the EU without an overall agreement, a report by a thinktank concludes. Leaving the EU’s Single Aviation Market (Sam) in March without a replacement arrangement would strip most UK-based airlines of their operating licences for the 27 countries, said the Institute for Economic Affairs. Sam currently covers the UK’s rights to the so-called “freedoms of the air”, which include overflights of countries without landing and operating internal flights in foreign countries.

Guardian
Theresa May and the government would face a race against time to pass a slew of new laws, or risk creating an “unsustainable legal vacuum”, if Britain plunged out of the EU without a deal, Labour’s Keir Starmer has warned. Dominic Raab insisted last week that the government had the legislation in place to cope, if Britain is forced to leave in March 2019 without a withdrawal agreement. “Our laws will be on the statute book, the staff will be in place, the teams will be in post and our institutions will be ready for Brexit – deal, or no deal,” the Brexit secretary said.

Sky News
Next year’s Grand National might see an absence of Irish jockeys and horses if the UK leaves the EU without a Brexit deal, according to horseracing authorities. The annual showpiece event at Aintree racecourse, Liverpool, will take place little more than a week after the UK’s formal departure from the EU on 29 March, 2019. The British Horseracing Authority (BHA) has voiced fears the race could be affected in the event of a “no-deal” Brexit, if the European Commission rejects UK efforts to keep the current “streamlined” process for transporting horses. Last week, the government revealed the first batch of papers detailing Whitehall plans for a no-deal exit, which raised fears for shoppers, farmers, businesses, NHS patients and UK expats.

Brexit

Express
THERESA May is failing to deliver on the Brexit vote after accepting the EU’s proposals with a “begging bowl” and refusing to approach negotiations with a “strong hand”, an MEP has warned. Brexiteer MEP Tim Aker accused Mrs May of capitulating to EU negotiators, and failing to maintain key Brexit red lines. The Prime Minister drew sharp criticism following the publication of the Chequers White Paper in July, which was blasted by Brexiteers for offering key concessions to Brussels. Notably, Mrs May’s proposed UK-EU free trade area would see a “combined customs territory” established in a bid to minimise a hardening of the Northern Irish border. The Prime Minister’s ‘facilitated customs arrangement’ would also see the UK collect tariffs on behalf of the EU, which drew sharp criticism from former prominent Brexiteers David Davis and Boris Johnson.

Telegraph (by Boris Johnson)
So it is “Cabin crew, doors to manual” and, as you settle back and prepare to hand over €20 for an easyMeal, you may be reflecting on that delightful week you just had in the Med – the bustling marinas, the crowded restaurants – and you may conceivably have been persuaded by all those UK cheerleaders for the EU that the euro crisis is indeed at an end. You may now go along with the fashionable pro-EU narrative, that the nice Mr Draghi of the European Central Bank has cracked it, that the euro is in robust health, that Club Med countries are on the way to durable recoveries.

IndependentDominic Raab has dismissed his own government’s forecast of huge economic damage from crashing out of the EU without a deal, insisting most such predictions “prove to be wrong”. The Brexit secretary set up a clash with Philip Hammond, the Chancellor, by rejecting his warning of a 7.7 per cent hit to GDP and an £80bn black hole in the public finances. The projection is the Treasury’s own analysis of the impact of a no-deal Brexit over the next 15 years – because of the loss of market access to the EU and chaos at Britain’s borders. But, asked about the stark warning, Mr Raab said: “I’m always chary of any forecast because most of them have been proved to be wrong.”

Times
Planning for a no-deal Brexit is being hampered by a shortage of skilled civil servants, senior government figures have admitted. Dominic Raab, the Brexit secretary, claimed last week that he had funding to increase the number of staff working on preparations by 9,000. At present 7,000 officials are working on the plans being co-ordinated by the Brexit department. Senior government figures say that the number of staff, not money, is the limiting factor. Philip Hammond has set aside £3 billion to fund efforts to mitigate the disruption caused by a no-deal Brexit. With fewer than seven months before Britain is due to leave the EU just under a third of this has been allocated.

LibDems

Mail
Anti-Brexit campaigner Gina Miller could become the next leader of the Liberal Democrats, it has emerged. The current Lib Dem boss Sir Vince Cable plans to make it easier for non-MPs to become party leader, he will be revealed next week. And now insiders have reportedly said Mrs Miller, 53, who successfully led the campaign to allow Parliament a vote on Brexit nearly two years ago, is looking to make the most of the proposal. The businesswoman and mother-of-three is already set to make a major Brexit speech at the Liberal Democrat conference next month.

Sun
ANTI-Brexit campaigner Gina Miller is being lined up to become a future leader of the Lib Dems, The Sun can reveal. Lib Dem boss Sir Vince Cable will next week unveil plans to make it easier for non-MPs to become party leader. Insiders said the move is already being eyed-up by Mrs Miller, whose High Court battle delayed Theresa May in kick-starting the Brexit process nearly two years ago. The businesswoman is already scheduled to make a major Brexit speech at the Lib Dem conference next month. But one party source said: “Only Gina Miller would think it was a good idea for her to be leader of the Lib Dems.” Sir Vince will announce plans for a major overhaul of party membership rules on September 7 in a bid to turn his anti-Brexit party into a mass-membership movement.

Labour Party

Mail
Hundreds of complaints alleging antisemitism in Labour are going unaddressed by party officials, it is claimed. Insiders say the party’s internal investigations unit has collapsed as leader Jeremy Corbyn has promised to speed up the party’s disciplinary process. The party’s former head of the compliance unit and at least two others have left, leaving only one staff member to investigate the mounting number of cases of alleged antisemitism, the Times reported. A spokesman told the paper: ‘We have robust processes for dealing with complaints we receive. We don’t comment on staffing matters.’

Times
Hundreds of complaints of alleged antisemitism against Labour members remain unaddressed and its internal investigation unit has all but collapsed, insiders say. Jeremy Corbyn has repeatedly promised to speed up the party’s disciplinary process, most recently in a filmed apology for the hurt caused to British Jews this month. Well-placed figures say that hundreds of investigations are unresolved at the party’s Victoria Street headquarters. The former head of the compliance unit left shortly after the arrival of the new general secretary, Jennie Formby. At least two other members have followed, leaving just one staff member investigating cases.

Mail
A group campaigning to abolish jails and release all inmates, including terrorists and sex attackers, will be hosted by pro-Corbyn movement Momentum next month. The Empty Cages Collective (ECC), which wants to ‘bring an end to the prison system’, appears in the programme of the Momentum event, which is being held alongside the Labour Party conference. The ECC says: ‘We identify as abolitionists because we believe the movement to reform prisons… can legitimise the prison system and the state.’ The event will include speeches from Mr Corbyn and Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell. The ECC is part of a wider movement to ‘plan for a world without prisons and police’ which is gaining ground on the hard Left.

Conservative Party

Sun
BREXITEERS have threatened to boo and “slow handclap” Theresa May during her Tory conference speech in protest at her EU negotiation strategy. Angry MPs could attempt to humiliate the Prime Minister as she addresses the party in Birmingham to try and express their unhappiness with her Chequers plan for a soft Brexit. According to arch-Eurosceptic Conservative Andrew Bridgen said Mrs May’s standing was already “at an all-time low” with members over her White Paper policies. Speaking to the Mail on Sunday after her call on Mr Johnson to apologise for controversial remarks about burkas, he said: “Her standing has now plummeted even further. “It’s becoming increasingly obvious to Conservative supporters that we need a new PM to rescue Brexit, and rescue our country and our party.

Telegraph
Conservative party associations are reporting a surge in members who have joined in the wake of Theresa May’s Chequers deal which has proved unpopular with the grassroots. The increase in membership will raise concerns that the party is at risk from a ‘blue Momentum-style’ takeover among supporters furious with the deal which keeps Britain closely tied to the European Union after Brexit. John Strafford, a Tory grassroots campaigner, said the rise came from former UK Independence Party members who were rejoining because they do not like the deal and want to vote in a leadership contest to replace Mrs May.

Express
MORE than half of local Tory associations have been flooded with new members including many thought to be Euro-sceptics critical of Theresa May’s Brexit plans, a survey revealed yesterday. Forty-two out of 75 constituency parties reported increases in membership. Many association chiefs reported a surge in membership applications since after the Prime Minister forced her customs blueprint through the Cabinet at a meeting at her Chequers country retreat last month. The influx reverses a long-term decline in Tory membership since 2002. A majority of associations in constituencies represented by Cabinet ministers reported an influx in Euro-sceptic members.

Mail
The Tory Brexit wars escalated yesterday after the Brexit Secretary dismissed the Treasury’s dire economic forecasts. Dominic Raab said some projections needed to be treated with ‘a measure of caution’ – days after Philip Hammond warned a ‘no-deal’ Brexit could cause major damage to Britain’s finances. The Chancellor was accused of launching a ‘another instalment of dodgy Project Fear’ when he suggested last week that gross domestic product (GDP) could fall and borrowing could be around £80billion a year higher by 2033/34 if it leaves the EU without a deal. But Mr Raab told The Sunday Times: ‘I’m always chary of any forecast because most of them have been proved to be wrong.’ Stressing that ‘some of the forecasts’ should be treated with ‘a measure of caution’, he pointed out that estimates of UK GDP for next year have been ‘revised up’.

Burglary tourism

Times
A network of Latin American thieves is responsible for ransacking houses across the home counties and beyond in a wave of “burglary tourism”, The Times can reveal. Scotland Yard is hunting the British- based leadership of the Chilean gang after multimillion-pound raids in London’s commuter-belt and homes as far afield as north Wales and Somerset. More than 75 Chileans have been arrested in the past two years for burglaries in suburbs including in Hertfordshire, Surrey, Kent, southwest London and the Thames Valley. They scoop up jewellery, watches and designer clothes, with a single burglary worth as much as £400,000, and post the items back to their home country.

Mail
Police are hunting a Chilean criminal gang that has ransacked homes across the UK in a wave of ‘burglary tourism’. The Metropolitan Police is searching for the British-based leaders of the South American gang after multi-million-pound raids in London, north Wales and Somerset. More than 75 Chilean burglars have been arrested in the past two years in connection to burglaries in Hertfordshire, Surrey and south-west London. The thieves steal jewellery, watches and designer clothes, with one burglary netting as much as £400,000. In some cases, they have removed safes from walls. Despite arresting 36 suspected members of the gang this year, the Met is anticipating a new group of burglars, whose activity is thought to increase during the winter, The Times reported.

Air travel

Times
Air travel is taking longer as airlines “pad out” schedules to create the impression that planes are reaching their destination on time, an investigation has found. Carriers are allowing extra time for flights — in some cases at least 20 minutes — to ensure that they maintain punctuality. The research has led to accusations that schedules were being changed to reduce airlines’ chances of having to pay compensation for delays, although carriers strongly denied it. More than six of every ten flight routes are now advertised as taking longer than they did a decade ago, despite improvements in aircraft technology.

Mail
Air Travel has gotten longer as airlines ‘pad out’ timetables to create the impression that planes arrive at their destination on time, it emerged last night. In a bid to maintain punctuality targets, carriers are sometimes adding an extra twenty minutes to flight arrival times. The research, by consumer group Which?, found that more than six of every ten flight routes are now advertised as taking longer than they did a decade ago, despite vast improvements in aircraft technology. After comparing the average length of 125 flight times operated by large airlines from 2009 and this year, the study found that 76 routes, 61 per cent, now took longer, the Times reported.

Weight loss

Telegraph
A breakthrough drug which directly targets middle-aged spread could help millions of overweight Britons to lose weight. Slimmers taking the pills lost three times as much weight as those simply trying to diet and exercise, a landmark trial found. The drug also cut the risk of diabetes by a fifth. Experts hailed lorcaserin as the most effective weight-loss pill yet, suggesting they could help the two in three adults battling weight problems. The approach could be “the Holy Grail” in the battle to combat obesity, they said.

Times
A slimming pill that was found to triple the chance of significant weight loss without damaging the heart has raised hopes of finding a “holy grail” in the fight against obesity. The appetite suppressant helped people to lose more than 10kg (one and a half stone) over a year while cutting their blood pressure, heart rate and risk of diabetes, a large trial found. A quarter of British adults are obese and experts said yesterday that doctors should be more confident about prescribing slimming medication as a halfway house between simple dieting and weight-loss surgery.

Mail
A new slimming pill could help millions fight middle-age spread, a major study has found. Scientists say lorcaserin – labelled the ‘holy grail’ of weight management – is three times more effective than dieting alone. The twice-a-day tablets boost the brain cells that control appetite, which can become less effective with age. A US trial of 12,000 overweight people found those taking the drug lost an average of 9lbs 3oz in the first year – triple the 3lbs lost by those who relied on weight-loss advice alone – and kept the weight off for at least the three years of the study. Crucially, lorcaserin was also shown to be safe long-term, which could pave the way for it to be made available in the UK.

Sun
A BREAKTHROUGH slimming pill that fights middle-age spread could help millions of Brits shed weight. The new drug is three times more effective than dieting alone and cuts the risk of diabetes by a fifth. In trials, those who took the pill twice a day shed an average of nine pounds over 12 months and had kept it off two years later. Dieters who didn’t take it lost just three pounds. Tam Fry, of the National Obesity Forum, hailed the new treatment as the “Holy Grail” in the fight against flab. And obesity expert Prof Jason Halford, of Liverpool University said: “We have a massive gap between lifestyle advice and surgery.

ITV News
A weight-loss pill has been hailed as a potential “holy grail” in the fight against obesity after a major study showed it did not increase the risk of serious heart problems. Researchers say lorcaserin is the first weight-loss drug to be deemed safe for heart health with long-term use, which could see regulators approve it for prescription on the NHS. Taken twice a day, the drug is an appetite suppressant which works by stimulating brain chemicals to induce a feeling of fullness.

About The Author

Debbie has been a journalist for longer than she cares to admit! She has been freelance for the last 15 years and is deputy editor on INDEPENDENCE Daily, specialising in covering the morning press each day.

“Senior diplomats told The Sun that Brits would face “no flights to and from the UK, no ships, no economic activity and no financial transactions” if we failed to agree a deal before we leave the bloc next March. One ambassador predicted the chaos for businesses and ordinary people in the UK would get so bad the situation would quickly become untenable for the Government. And a senior EU official said Brussels negotiators were banking on it being such a disaster that the “cycle of negotiations and the political dynamics will be taken over by the real world”.
Vague sourcing like this isn’t helpful. WHO are the senior diplomats; WHO is the one ambassador; WHO is the senior EU official? How can they be held responsible without personal identification?

Debbie
on August 27, 2018 at 3:38 pm

It’s easier for the papers to use an unidentified source, Michael. Then they can say just about anything! And as for all these threats – they’re just Project Fear whatever-the-latest-incarnation-is.

I have no doubt there’ll be quite a bit of confusion in a case of no deal but to claim that after a week we’ll go crawling back to Brussels, as one un-named diplomatic said, is utter rubbish. We Brits are used to a bit of hardship and we’ll weather any such storm.

Bryan Tomlinson
on August 27, 2018 at 4:06 pm

They only exist in the parallel universe between the ears of pro-EU open borders journalists.

“Unnamed sources” is a propaganda tool that allows any nonsense to be printed with no come back to the author and publication.